Sisters and Brothers,
As you know, we are in the fight of our lives as we campaign to #SaveOshawaGM. This column in the Windsor Star marks a pivotal point in the campaign to convince GM to reverse its decision on the Oshawa Assembly Plant. Please take a moment to read it and share it widely with members and on social media on Facebook and Twitter and use these hashtags:
#SaveOshawaGM
#BoycottMexicoGM
#GreedyMotors
In Solidarity,
Jerry Dias
National President
Dear members,
In the past week, some disturbing information has come to light about plans made by the Conservative Government about privatization and outsourcing of Ontario’s healthcare system.
First, a draft bill was leaked to the Ontario NDP. Leader Andrea Horwath shared the document at a media conference and the contents were troubling. The Bill, that we now know the Progressive Conservative Cabinet approved on January 16, set out a plan to create a healthcare “Super-Agency” with sweeping powers.
The draft bill would dissolve the Local Health Integrated Networks (LHINs) and create one centralized government agency. The Minister of Health and the new “Super Agency” would have the capacity to close or merge health services, such as hospitals, long-term care homes or community health centres.
New information released on Monday of this week further outlined this betrayal of the people of Ontario. A separate secret government document revealed a plan of widespread outsourcing of vital services including inspections, laboratories, licensing, devices and Ornge.
This is alarming. As a union member, I am worried for the healthcare workers who are already asked to do too much with far too little.
Our members who work as paramedics with Ornge do not deserve the pressure of being specifically named for outsourcing as they perform a critical and highly stressful public service.
As an Ontarian who relies on the same healthcare system, I an angry that the Conservatives are deceiving the public and making these secret plans to dismantle our public services.
When the Conservatives were in power under Harris, they took a chainsaw to our healthcare system. We are still feeling the effects in private long-term care homes, in hospitals and clinics right across the province.
The government has a responsibility and a mandate to invest in healthcare, to benefit all people in this province.
We have requested a meeting with Christine Elliot, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, to discuss the possibly devastating effects of changes like those described in the leaked documents. We will continue to demand that this government immediately cease all strategies to dismantle our public healthcare system.
There is a better way forward. I recently presented to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, and shared Unifor’s plan to protect public services and support all of our communities. This plan includes fully funding healthcare, including hospitals, drug coverage, mental health care and long-term care.
The people of Ontario did not vote for cuts, and we can afford to invest in our world-class healthcare system, to make it even better. If you would like more information about Unifor’s presentation to the finance committee, the submission is attached to this email.
In solidarity,
Naureen Rizvi
Ontario Regional Director
The Oshawa General Motors car assembly plant is seen in Oshawa, Ont., Monday Nov 26, 2018.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eduardo Lima
WHITBY, Ont. — Unifor says workers at an autoparts supplier in Whitby, Ont. have walked off the job in solidarity with the union’s campaign to save the General Motors assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont.
The union says employees at the Lear Corp. operation, which supplies seats to the GM Oshawa plant, started demonstrating early Friday morning.
It says the 350 workers at the Lear plant face probable job losses if GM goes ahead with its planned closure of the Oshawa plant by the end of the year.
Unifor president Jerry Dias says the workers and the union are demanding government action to help protect jobs.
Unifor has been campaigning to save the plant, including with walk-offs and a call to boycott GM vehicles from Mexico, since the company announced its plans last November.
| To: | All Employees at Bell Technical Solutions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| From: | The Human Resources Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject: | Government deduction modifications | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hello everyone,
We would like to inform you that the federal and provincial governments modified the annual CPP and EI (QPP and QPIP in Québec) contributions for 2019. These changes were applied to your first pay in 2019, which was deposited on January 11. As per legislation, BTS must deduct taxes and government deductions from employees’ pays until they have reached the yearly maximum. Tax calculations are based on your province of work. Maximum deductions for 2018 and 2019
If you have any questions, please email us or call us at 1-888-542-3977. The Human Resources Team |
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The ad, set to air during CTV’s Super Bowl broadcast Sunday evening and can also be found online, calls GM “un-Canadian,” greedy and that it has left Canadian workers “out in the cold.”